Energy & Fuel

"In the heart of Texas' mineral-rich Eagle Ford Shale, freshwater isn't the only precious resource for both oil companies and local communities. Brackish groundwater aquifers are also becoming increasingly valuable — as potential drinking water supplies, and also as locations for disposing wastewater from drilling and hydraulic fracturing."

"Though much maligned for its invasion into the air Utahns breathe, carbon is an element that is everywhere, throughout the earth and in all living creatures. In the human body, it’s the second most abundant element, right after oxygen. And in the heart of Utah’s Carbon County, carbon—the primary stuff of coal—is the lifeblood of the residents and the hardscrabble communities formed to mine the black gold that has powered the world for generations."

"Federal energy authorities have slashed by 96% the estimated amount of recoverable oil buried in California's vast Monterey Shale deposits, deflating its potential as a national "black gold mine" of petroleum."

"China and Russia signed a $400 billion gas deal on Wednesday, giving Moscow a megamarket for its leading export and linking two major powers that, despite a rocky history of alliances and rivalries, have drawn closer to counter the clout of the United States and Europe."

"Louisiana Republicans work to quash lawsuits seeking oil and gas industry funds to restore the coastline."

"The Obama administration issued rules that give operators of power plant and factories an array of options to prevent fish from being killed when water is used to cool machinery."

Some nuclear power plants could face hazards from climate-driven sea-level rise much greater than the levels they were designed for.

"A federal appeals court has refused to reconsider a major decision in the long-running battle over the 2010 gulf oil spill, leaving in place an earlier ruling that forces the British oil company BP to pay some businesses for economic damages without the businesses having to prove the losses were directly caused by the spill."

"The removal of a 2,500-ton deposit of coal ash in the Dan River from a spill in North Carolina has begun."